Early Medieval Art with Illustrations From the BritishMuseum Collection

by Ernst Kitzinger

The central theme of this book is the unity of European artistic development from the breakup of the ancient world to the age of the great cathedrals. Illustrated with over 48 plates, reproducing photographs from the collection of early medieval art in the British Museum, it contains chapters on late antique, Early Christian, Carolingian, Byzantine, Ottonian, medieval Spanish and Italian, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth century art. According to the author, "...during the early Middle Ages, which are still often regarded merely as a hiatus, the entire foundations of European art were were changed and a new and great ideal found full expression..." In his critical survey, Mr. Kitzinger, a Kingsley Porter University Professor at Harvard University, Busch-Reisinger Musueum, and formerly associated with the British Museum, described the way in which the propagandist art of the late Roman emperors and the symbolic language used in early Christian monuments led to the vivid narrative style of early Byzantine and Carolingian art, and eventually to the ecstatic expressionism of the Ottonian age.

114 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1985

About the author

Ernst Kitzinger (December 27, 1912 – January 22, 2003) was a German-American historian of late antique, early medieval, and Byzantine art.

Reviews

[Maude Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really really enjoyed this!!!! it was so cool seeing these pieces and learning the actual choices and reasoning behind them. it went in depth where my art history courses didnt, which i appreciate !!! very cool !!!!!